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Kai Bird

Goodreads Author

Born

in Eugene, Oregon, The United States

Website

http://www.kaibird.com/

Twitter

kaibird123

Genre

Nonfiction, Biographies & Memoirs, Politics

Influences

Victor Navasky

Member Since

February 2013

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Kai Bird is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist, best known for his biographies of political figures. He has also won the National Book Critics Circle Award for biography, the Duff Cooper Prize, a Woodrow Wilson Center Fellowship, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He is a Contributing Editor of The Nation magazine.

Bird was born in 1951. His father was a U.S. Foreign Service officer, and he spent his childhood in Jerusalem, Beirut, Dhahran, Cairo and Bombay. He finished high school in 1969 at Kodaikanal International School in Tamil Nadu, South India. He received his BA from Carleton College in 1973 and a M.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University in 1975. Bird now lives in Miami Beach, Florida with his wife, Susan Goldm ...more

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Kai Bird’s books

Average rating: 4.28 · 69,987 ratings · 6,764 reviews · 12 distinct works • Similar authors

	American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird (Goodreads Author), Martin J. Sherwin 4.30 avg rating — 63,101 ratings — published 2005 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames 3.96 avg rating — 4,018 ratings — published 2014 — 20 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter 4.33 avg rating — 1,480 ratings — published 2021 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn's Dark Journey from Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump by Kai Bird (Goodreads Author), Susan Goldmark 4.23 avg rating — 768 ratings — published 2026 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age Between the Arabs & Israelis 1956-78 4.14 avg rating — 405 ratings — published 2010 — 27 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Color of Truth: McGeorge Bundy and William Bundy: Brothers in Arms 4.29 avg rating — 108 ratings — published 1998 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Chairman: John J. McCloy and the Making of the American Establishment 4.27 avg rating — 64 ratings — published 1992 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hiroshima's Shadow: Writings on the Denial of History & the Smithsonian Controversy by Kai Bird (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Lawrence Lifschultz (Editor) 4.25 avg rating — 44 ratings — published 1996 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb: Young Readers Edition of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird (Goodreads Author), Eric S Singer (Adapter), Martin J Sherwin 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Canaglia americana: Ascesa e caduta di Roy Cohn, l’uomo che inventò Trump by Kai Bird (Goodreads Author), Giuseppe Maugeri (Translator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Kai Bird…

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Kai Bird's Blog

NY Times cover review

The Good Spy is reviewed on the front cover of the Sunday New York Times Book Review. "A rich, nuanced portrait..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/boo...

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Published on July 26, 2014 06:41 • Tags: cia-thegood-spy

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Readers’ 60 Most Anticipated Fall Books

Autumn is traditionally the busiest season in book publishing. Eventual holiday shopping is part of it, but it seems that people just...

Kai is Currently Reading

Kai Bird is currently reading

Genesis: Truman, American Jews, and the Origins of the Arab/Israeli Conflict

by John B. Judis

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Apr 08, 2014 10:43AM

Quotes by Kai Bird (?)

“Oppenheimer’s warnings were ignored—and ultimately, he was silenced. Like that rebellious Greek god Prometheus—who stole fire from Zeus and bestowed it upon humankind, Oppenheimer gave us atomic fire. But then, when he tried to control it, when he sought to make us aware of its terrible dangers, the powers-that-be, like Zeus, rose up in anger to punish him.”
― Kai Bird, American Prometheus: THE INSPIRATION FOR 'OPPENHEIMER', WINNER OF 7 OSCARS, INCLUDING BEST PICTURE, BEST DIRECTOR AND BEST ACTOR

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“The kind of person that I admire most would be one who becomes extraordinarily good at doing a lot of things but still maintains a tear-stained countenance.”
― Kai Bird, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

tags: oppenheimer

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“Great wits are near to madness, closely allied and thin partitions do their bounds divide.”
― Kai Bird, American Prometheus

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